PRESS-HERALD – Five dogs took to Scarborough Beach State Park last week, but not to play fetch or go for a walk.
Beacon, a 14-month-old Newfoundland, is training to help lifeguards save lives. Two visiting dogs were there to train Beacon and the two other canines.
“(Beacon) won’t be a first responder; she’ll be a second responder,” said Park Manager Greg Wilfert. “What her job will be is to help the lifeguards bring the people back in. I have all my lifeguards working with her.”
Beacon has been working with trainers from the American Academy of Canine Water Rescue, based in Massachusetts.
It’s quite a spectacle when Beacon trots along the shore wearing her life jacket. Beachgoers stop to pet and take photos of her and ask Wilfert a lot of questions. The idea of a professionally trained water rescue dog is, quite literally, foreign.
“I had seen the groups from Italy and Croatia that use dogs as water rescue dogs,” Wilfert said. “I just thought it was another tool that could be utilized like our Jet Ski is. You don’t use it all the time, but you have it there for a purpose.”
Italy has certified 400 water rescue dogs via the Scuola Italiana Cani Da Salvataggio, or Italian School of Rescue Dogs. Two of them — Angel and Oakley — and their owners were invited to Scarborough Beach on June 30 to help train Beacon and the two other dogs, a German Shepard named Athena and a 4-month-old Newfoundland named Orso.
The latter spent the morning soaking up the sun and studying his peers.
Angel, also a Newfoundland, was the first dog from the United States to be certified in water rescue in Italy.
“That’s one of the reasons why I founded the American Academy of Canine Water Rescue,” said Maria Gray, who also owns Angel … READ MORE.
VIDEO: Lifeguard Dogs Help Human Counterparts At Beach In Maine
